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Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus (name meaning "Spine Lizard") is a genus of spinosaurid theropod dinosaur that originated during the Middle Cretaceous period in what is now Africa. Among the largest theropod dinosaurs that ever existed, Spinosaurus is recognizable by its long arms, crocodile-like snout, and the large sail on its back. Facts Era & Region The apex predator of its time, Spinosaurus lived in North Africa during the Middle Cretaceous period from 112–93 million years ago. Discovery & Range Discovered by famous German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1912, Spinosaurus was originally depicted with a skull resembling that of a Megalosaurid. During WWII, the type specimen was lost during an allied bombing raid, since the museum it was housed in was across the street from the Nazi headquarters. Fossiles of Spinosaurus have been discovered in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Niger. The old depictions made it look like a Megalosaur with a sail on its back, but then in 1986, the well-known dinosaur Baryonyx was discovered and that changed the look of Spinosaurus forever, giving it the new view to more of a bipedal crocodile with massive, muscular arms and a sail on its back. Since its discovery, Spinosaurus has become one of the most famous prehistoric creatures in the world. Physical Description Spinosaurus stood 18 feet (5.6 m) tall, measured 49 feet (15 m) long, and weighed 20 tons, making it one of the largest theropod dinosaurs that ever walked the Earth. Spinosaurus was a heavily built and very large bipedal theropod, approximately twice the height and length of a pickup truck. It also had very long, massive, clawed forearms that measured up to 7 feet (2.1 m) long and, while it spent much of its time on its two legs, it was shown to occasionally crouch down onto all fours. It possessed a long, narrow crocodile-like snout filled with conical, non-serrated teeth, and it was recognizable by six-foot-tall neural spines along its back which were connected by a membrane to form a sail-like structure. Spinosaurus had a large sail on its back that measured up to 6–8 feet tall, which allowed to heat up via turning it towards the sun if it was ever cold or lose heat if it was too hot. It had a long flexible tail, like a crocodile, to propel it through the water. It had a long neck up to 7.5 feet (2.3 m) long for mobility when catching fish. Behavior & Traits Spinosaurus was discovered to be a solitary animal, only getting together with other members of its species during mating season. This massive carnivore preyed on fish, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs alike. Its crocodile-like skull, and especially the holes which were said to contain sensors, support this notion. Spinosaurus was a territorial, volatile, and aggressive creature which would chase after any potential prey it caught in its territory, and it would return once it knew that there was good prey in the area. In both hunts and combat, Spinosaurus would rely on its jaws as a weapon for crushing to death and eating its prey and opponents. Spinosaurus lived mainly in the mangroves and floodplains of Africa hunting fish, but it would hunt large terrestrial animals if needed. Trivia * The sound effects of Spinosaurus are that of crocodile hisses and walrus sounds as well as the classical dinosaur sound effects used in Curse of the Komodo. Category:Dinosaurs